Pros and Cons of Cash on Delivery payment in E-commerce!!!

Cash on Delivery payment in E-tailing is the most preferred form of payment by the customers these days. Cash on Delivery option is not available in many countries. But some countries in Asia like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Thailand, Nepal etc. support Cash on Delivery option in E-tailing.

These are the pros of Cash on Delivery payment:

Cash on Delivery option is supported by many E-commerce sites in some countries of Asia, India being a part of it. Cash on Delivery (COD) is preferred by online buyers who would like to check the product before paying for it. This is advantageous for the customers as they can check the product before paying for it.
Another advantage of COD is that many people in rural areas of India and many other countries who do not have credit cards and debit cards can buy products online.
COD is supported by many E-commerce sites to attract online buyers who are not comfortable to reveal their credit or debit card details online.

Cons of Cash on Delivery payment:

Some people return the products to the service provider who deliver the products. These products have to be reshipped to the E-commerce sites for which the service provider charges. But the customer does not pay the reshipping charges and the E-commerce sites have to bear these charges.
Another disadvantage is that some times there can be fraud orders as the Cash on delivery payment method does not need proofs while buying which is a loss to the E-commerce sites.
Some times when the delivery of the products get delayed, the customers refuse to take the products and the charges for return and other taxes have to be born by the E-tailing site.

As every method of payment has pros and cons, some steps can be taken to reduce the cons. The steps like confirming with the customer either by calling the customer or sending a mail before delivering the product can reduce the frauds and other issues related to COD. The return of the product to the service provider should be completely banned and the service providers should be intimated that this kind of service should not be supported by them.

Many E-commerce/E-tailing sites like Amazon, Ebay, Flipkart, Snapdeal etc. support COD to improve the sales. Selling/Listing the products on Ebay, Amazon, Flipkart, Etsy, Lazada groups, Facebook etc. can be easily done through E-commerce software called SELLinALL.

Influencer Marketing in E-commerce Strategy

Influencer marketing is not a new concept in advertising. Before the rise of the internet, celebrities and sportspersons endorsed brands through traditional advertising mediums (TV, news, magazines). Social media platforms such as Instagram, Tik Tok, Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat, on the internet now allow influencers to directly connect with the core audience. Additionally, the platforms have given opportunities to other people, also known as micro-influencers. Today, 9 out of 10 brands utilize influencer marketing to reach their target consumers and the ROI on using influencer marketing has proven to be more effective, generating $18 for $1 spent. With 7.9 million retailers vying for online consumers, influencer marketing has become a core part of digital marketing strategy. Who or what are Influencers? It’s not possible for upcoming brands to partner with A-list celebrity influencers such as Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, Kim Kardashian, o...

Buy Online, Pickup in Store

A National Retail Federation study on Consumer Views in late October 2019 revealed that70% of the survey participants would pay for a Buy-online, pick-up-in-store service (BOPIS). BOPIS has emerged as a convenient option not only for consumers but retailers that invested in brick-and-mortar stores. Growth in online retail sales was overtaking traditional brick-and-mortar retail before the pandemic and BOPIS was being adopted by top retailers. With the onset of the pandemic in 2020, a Digital Commerce 360 survey in late 2020 showed results that 43.7% of the top 500 retailers with physical stores were offering BOPIS — up from 6.9% before the pandemic started. BOPIS, also known as click-and-collect or curbside- pickup provides a safe, contact-free way to shop online and pick up the ordered items. In order to implement BOPIS, a retailer needs to implement the following tools: 1) A website or app where customers can shop and place orders for the products online 2) A brick-and-mortar locatio...

Customer Retention Strategies for E-Commerce

Customer Retention Strategies for E-Commerce Gone are the days of Henry Ford when he said, “You can have any color so long as it’s black” . Retaining customers is an important aspect of e-commerce strategy as customer acquisition costs increase with new e-retailers crowding the market and vying for the attention of online customers. According to Smallbusinessgenius.net , 65% of a company’s business comes from existing customers, and increasing customer retention by just 5% boosts profits by 25% to 95% . 82% of companies surveyed agree that retention is cheaper than acquisition. Customer retention strategy , of course, depends on the lifecycle of the brand or online retailer’s platform. At the early and growth stage in a lifecycle, businesses are likely to focus on customer acquisition as the brand or reputation needs to be built among consumers. But a foundation for customer retention strategy needs to be developed in order to maintain consistency with the target audience over a ...